Manta Ray Music

One of the biggest challenges for many artists nowadays is to define their sound. There seem to be an almost limitless variety of genres, styles, and niches out there that an artist can fit into and thus be “classified”. With this, DANCE ON THE TIGHTROPE, as their name suggests, plays a clever game. Through months of dedication and experimentation, they have found a style which is actually hard to define, which balances on the thin line between edgy electronica and state of the art epic-alternative-indie-rock sound. Sounds complicated on paper, but just like it would for a tightrope dancer, it seems to come easy when it’s done with a passion for perfection.
When Gerrit Beiersdorf (vocals/guitar), Fabio Eggert (synth/guitar), Tobi Boldt (bass), and Michel Niknafs (drums) started the band in 2009, they were jamming in an unused Berlin Second World War bunker. The offspring of their long, late-night sessions was their first EP “Copy”, which they self-released in late 2009. Tired of the urban rush of the city of Berlin, and seeking new inspiration, they went to the countryside in Northern Germany, where more songs and musical ideas began to grow. In September 2010, DANCE ON THE TIGHTROPE returned to Berlin, and in their very first gig back home they wowed UK/German music management company Manta Ray with an amazing performance at the Wabe Club.
The band’s singer, Gerrit, already had going international in mind, and shortly after the show he moved to London looking for more inspiration in the UK music capital. Now the band dances on another tightrope – the one between London and Berlin, where both band and singer are crafting the final touches to what will be the band’s upcoming EP.

In doing so, DANCE ON THE TIGHTROPE combines the musical variety of the two music capitals of Europe – an energetic and sensual voice, as well as nifty, shimmering guitars pair with compelling synth-elements and strong baselines. The result is an intriguing limbo, carried and bound by cunning, mathematically dancing drums.
In December 2010 the band reassembled in London, where they held a variety of gigs (amongst others in Monto’s Water Rats), following which they collectively returned to Berlin. After having released “Copy” in 2010, they have now begun producing their second EP, “Paste”. Recorded with Ed East (Brian Johnston Massacre, I Heart Sharks, The Tunics), and produced with Sebastian Basi° Becher (Jan Delay, Wir sind Helden, Nelly Furtado) in the Studio East and at ML Audio Berlin.
The titles of both EPs demonstrate a clear link to each other, while being unambiguously distinct as individual pieces of work. One may expect the insertion of new ideas and perspectives, driven by the pulse of urban life, while leaving space for precise attention to the acoustical marvels presented. It is a Dance On The Tightrope.